


No Copya

by The_Shy_One



Category: The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Angst, Asexual Character, Asexual Din Djarin, Asexuality, Asexuality Spectrum, Canon Compliant, Emotional Hurt, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Implied Sexual Content, Kidnapping, M/M, One Shot, Sexuality Crisis, hand holding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-07
Updated: 2021-02-07
Packaged: 2021-03-12 02:21:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,136
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29252883
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Shy_One/pseuds/The_Shy_One
Summary: Din doesn't know his place in the universe with how he feels internally about being an outsider when it comes to not understanding why others want sex. He still doesn't when he meets Boba.
Relationships: Din Djarin & Paz Vizsla, Din Djarin/Boba Fett
Comments: 13
Kudos: 190





	No Copya

Din has always known he was a bit odd. Well, he knew he was odd when his friends were starting to notice each other and talk about crushes they had - and that he couldn’t relate to it a lot. He knew there was something about him that was preventing him from understanding the other foundlings in that way, but there weren’t any words that could explain how he was feeling. There was something there, despite how there was no word in any language he’d studied that could provide him with an answer for what he was feeling.

The closest he got was the word copya. Attractive, not based on looks. 

It didn’t explain everything he felt, not even close. But it was enough, enough to know that there was something in a language that cradled him since he was taken in by the Covert that said he wasn’t odd. 

It wasn’t a problem until he started to take jobs as an apprentice to the Covert’s Boroya. There was interest for him from outsiders, an interest he wasn’t so sure about. There was a hunger in their eyes, a gleam that made him stick close to the boroya since for all intents and purposes the outsiders wanted to eat him whole. It was unnerving and Din wanted no part of it, no matter how much he longed to be like his fellow foundlings. 

He feels further pushed out of the circle of foundlings once they start to experiment with sex. He saw the flirting, the dance that leads two or more to pair off and find a dark corner to get off. Din knew it was happening even if he always declining to do it with those he felt closer to. 

He only considered Paz once. When he was so desperate to be normal, to be like the others around him, Din went to Paz since the boy was most attractive according to many. Paz was big, strong, filled with pride of being a Mandalorian and his heritage that came with the clan name of Vizsla. He was also soft and kind to the foundlings, those who Din had found with the Beroya. He seemed like the best option even if they didn’t always get along.

It doesn’t get any further than pressing against each other that Din seizes up, not liking where this was heading. It didn’t feel right, not one little bit. His breath started to become quicker, more panicked underneath his helmet and that’s when Paz let him go.

He was still close to Din, but there was a distance that made Din relax, feel safe. “You don’t want to do this,” Paz stated. He wasn’t disappointed nor angry, something that almost makes Din weep. Then,” Why, Din’ika?”

“I want to be normal,” Din says quietly. He still does, but the intense desire has gone away. It would come back and he hated when it did. It made him feel like everything is wrong with him, makes him feel like an outsider to the Creed despite how hard he worked to earn it for himself.“You were the best choice for that. I wanted to be normal like you, the other foundlings that are our friends.”

“Din, don’t force yourself to do this,” Paz said, gentle. Much more gentle than he’s been to Din before. “Don’t do it if you don’t want to.”

He pulls Din into a hug, holding him close. It should have made Din panic with what they were close to doing before. But instead, it made him cry, the words something he needed to hear, being held as if he were important.

Paz didn’t say anything to anyone after that night. Only kept coming to Din’s rescue if someone was trying to insist that Din sleep with them, earn a right of passage of growing up. Din realized the longer he went without doing any kind of sexual activity with anybody, the more they started to look at him, wondering what was wrong with him.

So when Beroya offered him the position to become the new beroya for the Covert, Din took it. 

It got him away from the whispers, the stares and questions, everything that made him feel like an outsider despite knowing he was fine, he was okay. Paz had said so and never tried anything despite knowing that secret. But he didn’t feel comfortable explaining that to anyone else, somehow feeling they wouldn’t understand why sex wasn’t an interest, why any romantic feelings didn’t come easy to him.

So Din focused instead on earning money, on keeping the Covert afloat. It was lonely, but it was preferred to what he was experiencing before. Things go crazy the moment he finds the kid, laying the bassinet, staring up at Din with those big black eyes. Something called to him, something that he thinks a parent feels when they meet their child for the first time.

He takes the kid back, trying to ignore that feeling in favour of finishing the job. The beskar would put to better things, back into the hands of which they were stolen from. It bugs him though, hearing the child whine as they’re taken away. 

It continues to bug him, especially after seeing how angry Paz gets the moment he saw the Imperial stamp on the beskar. Din makes the decision to get them back and is so close to doing that before Keef comes at him with the Guild, trying to return the child back to the client.

And that’s when the Covert arrives.  
They attacked, all covering for Din while he escapes with the child. He knows he can’t repay their efforts, for revealing themselves other than protecting the child and making sure they’re cared for.

Things are a blur for a while after this, especially after the Armorer gives him the mission to return the child back to their own kind. Everything is either friend or foe, something that either helps or hinders his progress to find the child’s people. 

That’s what he thinks this man is, a hinder, something to harm the child as he demands the armour from Din. He looks harsh, cross, something that Din can’t handle right now as he tries to keep the man from harming his kid. He just wants to find their people, make it right to the Covert who helped him despite how much he had distanced himself from them over the years.

It quickly changes once the Storm Troopers show up.

Suddenly, they pair up, fighting against the troopers. Din sees flashes of Boba’s skill, powerful in a way that he hasn’t seen since Paz. There was a flash of something in his chest as he took in the sight of Boba taking down several troopers like they were nothing, something that he has to put in the back of his mind as he heads back to Grogu - who he realizes is the true target of the Storm Troopers.

It’s too late, he realizes once he sees them take off from where he left them. It breaks his heart, more than anything else has in his life so far and it makes him angry as well.

When returning to Boba and Fennec, he sees the armour he’d taken from Cobb, sitting on Boba’s body - fitting much better to Boba’s shorter stature and thicker body. That feeling back once more, seeing that sight and Din realizes that maybe he had a crush. It surprised him after everything, but it wasn’t a surprise as others would expect.

He could have crushes, it just takes a lot to feel that feeling in his chest that his friends had spoken about when they were smitten about someone. But Boba, Boba was special, had been since the moment they jumped in to fight together, not even question their alliance in the face of a similar enemy.

And he can admit it was humorous to hear the man say he was aiming for the lower hanging Imperial ship after his missile manages to take down both.

Boba offers him an alliance to help get the kid back since the Razor Crest was gone and Din takes that alliance. He wasn’t going to lose Grogu, not when he had done so much to protect them, cared for them. 

Things get crazy once more when he’s paired up with Mayfeld for a mission. Everything turns sideways once Din has to take off his helmet to get the information he needed since Mayfeld was scared beyond anything that his former commanding officer would recognize him.

Adrenaline and the numbing realization of what he’s done makes time flow around him. He doesn’t realize that he’s back on the Slave I until someone touches his shoulder and he’s suddenly back in his body, back in the present.

Din blinks and looks to see Boba at his side. His helmet was off and Din saw the concern on his face, muted, but there. He also notices how his touch warms Din’s shoulder despite it being on his shoulder pauldron. Din swallows and speaks since he’s probably gotten on the ship. “Need anything?”

Boba minutely tilts his head, humming for a moment. “No.”

“Then what?”

He only catches the shifting emotions before Boba says,” For you to rest.”

“I can’t,” Din says hurriedly before he catches himself. He hears it in his head, knows it sounds unreasonable. But he couldn’t rest, not after all he’s sacrificed to find where his child was being held. Din needs to find the child.

“I can’t go to sleep. Not until I find them.”

Boba doesn’t say anything for a bit. Only removes his hand from Din’s shoulder - and he misses that warmth, wants it back to keep him steady - and moves in front of Din. There was something on Boba’s face, close to determination, but softer somehow. 

Din then melts when Boba puts a hand on his waist, soft, comforting for everything he’s experienced since he saw Grogu snatched from him. The warmth blooms there and Din wishes he could collapse into Boba’s arms, to feel this all over. “You don’t have to sleep then. Just rest, lay down. Enough so you’re alert when finding your child.” Boba said.

It wasn’t a command, just a request. But the way Boba’s voice rolled over the words, made Din want to do as he said. He couldn’t see the harm in laying down after all. “Stay close? Please?”

“Of course,” Boba replied, a soft smile on his face. 

He doesn’t pull Din into a hug, but he leads him to a berth. It’s big enough to hold Din and he lays down on it, letting the soft mattress cradle his body. Suddenly, his whole body relaxes and Din feels drowsy. But he can’t fall asleep, can’t risk it if it means finding his kid.

Looking through his visor, he sees the back of Boba’s head at the edge of the berth, sitting on the floor. He’s doing something else, something that requires his attention. Din watches him, watches as Boba shifts his head, concentration on whatever was in his lap. Every once in a while, Boba looks back, checking on Din.

Those cursory checks keep him from falling asleep. The way Boba’s dark brown eyes check his form makes the feeling in his chest go wild, wishing that he could hold Boba’s hand, maybe cuddle with the man if he wanted Din the same way. 

Time slips around him again, this time because he’s focused on Boba. He barely notices when his eyes close, tired both physically and mentally, the only things he’s noticing beyond the soft sounds of Boba shifting into a new position on the floor. But Din doesn’t fall asleep, only rests so he can open his eyes to look at Boba. 

Then, quietly, Boba sits on the edge of the berth, taking Din’s hand into his, cradling as he looks down at Din. Warmth spread over his fingers and he was desperate for more.

“Go to sleep, princess,” Boba says softly, brown eyes looking over to Din’s visor. The nickname was new, but it settled, gave Din hope that they could be partners, could be close even with Din not being a fan of sex. He hopes that doesn’t bother Boba, desperately hopes that. “I’ll be here to wake you if needed.”

“Promise?”

“I promise, princess.”

It didn’t take much for Din to slip into sleep after that, holding Boba’s hand like an anchor. He would wake the same way, smiling when he sees that Boba holds it close to his chest before letting go. 

Din’s prepared to find his kid after a few hours of sleep, hoping that he could hold Grogu to his chest once more. He missed them more than he knows.

**Author's Note:**

> Copad - Desire  
> Copya - Attractive (not looks - generally appealing separate concept for Mandos - and may refer to anything.)  
> Beroya - Bounty Hunter
> 
> It's been a hot minute since I did anything with Ace!Din, so it feels nice to do this headcanon again. I based some of this on my experiences before I figured out I was ace and how comforting it was to see the word copya when looking through Mando.org. 
> 
> Hopefully, it was a fun one-shot to read! :D


End file.
